Recognition
by Sleep-Not
Summary: When reincarnated friends *kind of* recognise each other... very light Gojyo/Hakkai (or Tempou/Kenren...)


Recognition 

"Excuse me?"

He looked up into a pair of eyes. They were ordinary eyes, as all eyes are ordinary. Just another pair of blue eyes. 

"Yes?"

"Is this chair taken?"

"No, go ahead."

But the ordinary eyes didn't snag the chair and return with it to another table and other sets of eyes, no, the blue eyes turned back to his, once, and then sat down. Sat down with him, at his table, with him. 

"Thanks."

He didn't know what to say for a moment. 

"Um, no problem."

And then that ordinary pair of blue eyes ordered a coffee from a passing waiter. He couldn't help but wonder what they thought they were doing, sitting here and drinking coffee with him.

"If you don't mind me asking, what newspaper is that you're reading?"

"The Times."

"Ah."

Why did those eyes seem so desperate to make conversation; he hadn't really encouraged them in any way, having been paying little to no attention to his surroundings for the last half hour. 

"You were reading it so closely I thought it must be something interesting." 

He shrugged in reply; blues eyes had accidentally given away the fact that they'd been watching him. Why any pair of eyes should watch him, ordinary or not, was beyond him. 

"There is an interesting article about the excavation of a temple or ancient palace in the area of Tenjiku."

"You are interested in historical sites?"

"Not particularly."

Blue eyes blinked at him slowly and he suddenly noticed that they were framed by spectacles.

"Do you mind if I smoke?"

"Not at all."

Behind the light wisps of smoke, blue eyes took on a greener quality. 

A young man, roughly in his mid-twenties, and an adolescent took the table to their right. The teenager looked like a punk and was loudly complaining to his companion that he was _still_ starving. His friend seemed to ignore him, lighting up his own cigarette, but then called the waiter over and ordered an obscene amount of food. 

"Maybe that will shut you up for a while," he remarked.

"Not likely!" was the unrepentant reply.

Blue eyes were smiling vaguely at their antics, but swiftly turned their attention back to him when the waiter came over with the coffee. 

"I couldn't help but wonder, have we met somewhere before?"

Ah, a come-on, so that was why those eyes had approached him.

"I don't go for guys," he said bluntly.

The man at the table next to them looked at them with mild interest then went back to berating his companion for eating too quickly. 

Blue eyes widen lightly in surprise.

"Oh! I do apologise if that sounded like a pick up line!"

"A bad one." He agreed.

"It's just," the eyes explained, "You were sitting in the sun and it kind of lit up your hair and eyes – brought out the red in them, like blood – and I couldn't help feeling that I should recognise you, that I'd known you well once."

"That is strange," he said.

"I'm sorry, I hope you're not offended, it's silly, I know."

Perhaps those ordinary eyes were a little embarrassed now.

"Not at all," and with levity he added, "perhaps we knew each other in a past life."

They both glanced at the table next to them as the boy started laughing for no apparent reason.

"Behave yourself, Goku," the older man admonished.

"You know, that kid really reminds me of a monkey," he remarked. This time it was the boy's companion who smiled, as if he had heard him and agreed. The blue eyes hid their smile politely behind a hand, which was a shame because it was a nice smile.

"Now I must be going, I'll leave you the paper if you like," he said generously and began to stand.

"Ah! Thank you. If you don't mind, might I enquire your name?"

Those eyes were so polite and maybe a little lonely too, and for a moment he thought them greener than they were, as if he was seeing several sets of eyes interposed over the current ones.

"My name's Kenren, my mother," he paused, letting a silence follow his words, "had a strange sense of humour and a love for Chinese myths."

When those ordinary blue eyes smiled, they didn't seem quite so ordinary. 

"You should smile more, Tenpou," he said with a nod and left the quiet eyes to their own thoughts.

Unfolding the newspaper that had been placed opposite him on the small café table, the owner of a pair of ordinary blue eyes paused to listen to the noises the sparrows made as they squabbled over crumbs. It was a pleasant sound, he thought, and it reminded him – strangely because he knew he shouldn't have memories of events that hadn't happened – of amicable squabbling coming from the back seat of a jeep.

He was mildly surprised – for he was a man rarely moved to extremes of temperament – to find a business card with a name and phone number hidden within the paper, marking the article about Tenjiku. 

The article covered a double page spread and there was a large photo on one side, a bit blurry but clear enough for him to make out one monkey-like figure standing next to three other, less distinct, ones carved onto a wall. He turned quickly to look once more at the occupants of the table to his right, but they had already gone. 

So he sat in the sun for a while and let blue eyes scan the article while he sipped his coffee, and he smiled. 

And to be sure, when he left the café, he took the business card with him. 

End

Author's note: Well what a surprise! I don't know **where** this Saiyuki short came from. I haven't seen the end of the series, as I'm reading the manga and am only up to volume 4 or thereabouts. Anyhow, I suspect it came from the chapter going into how the four of them met (the remark Hakkai makes about Gojyo's hair and eyes being the colour of blood and a constant reminder of his crimes). Ah, I love Saiyuki! I'm dedicating this to my baby second cousin, Chloe, because I can. ^_^


End file.
